Printing-plate holder



F. M. TURCK.

PRINTING PLATE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24. ms.

Patented July 5, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK M TURCK, OF EAST GRANGE, NEW JERSEY.

' PRINTING-PLATE HOLDER.

Application filed July 24,

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. TUROK, a citizen of the United States, and resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing- Plate Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in printing plate holders adapted to secure one or more plates upon a bed, either flat or cylindrical, constituting one of the members of a printing couple, the bed being provided with slots or grooves, into which the holders are slidingly mounted for adjustably clamping the plates to secure the necessary register thereof.

The objects of the present invention are, to provide a holder or'clamp-case that may readily be inserted or removed from the slot at any desired point throughout its length; to slidingly support and guide the same therein; to afford means for propelling the holder along the slot to effect the registering and clamping action of the printing plates; to provide an operating device carried by the holder and adapted to open and close the supporting and guiding means and lock the same in the opposite positions to guard against accidental displacement and to resist lateral thrusts from the propelling and clamping movements thereof. The objects further include the provision of a clamp member detachably secured to the holder for convenience of renewal and replacement, whereby either right or left hand clamping members may readily be inserted; also, a holder or case construction is provided for detachably mounting the several operative devices in perfect alinement by means of comparatively few parts, resulting in extreme simplicity and low cost of manufacture.

In describing the invention in detail, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein like characters of reference are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a ground plan, showing a bed, a printing plate, and the application of the improved holderthereto; Fig.2, an enlarged side elevation taken through the central joint line of a two-part holder or case, with the operating mechanism assembled in pos1- tion, the case being shown as mounted in a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1921.

1918. Serial No. 246,508.

slot of the bed, the bottom wall thereof in section; Fig. 3, an end view of the holder, also shown in a slot, the walls of thelatter being likewise indicated in section; Fig. l, a

sectional'plan view of the assembled case, with the operating devices shown partially in section; Fig. 5, a detail side elevation of the case similar to Fig. 2, with the operating devices removed; Fig. 6, a detail plan view of the latter; Fig. 7, a detail elevation of the operating shaft for the guide-bars; and Fig. 8, a top end view of the shaft.

In the drawings numeral l'designates a printing plate carried by the bed 2, the latter provided with a series of parallel grooves or slots formed by the opposite side walls 3 and the bottom wall 4. Within the slots are slidingly mounted a holder or clamp-case,

centrally divided with respect to its width to form the two parts or sections 5, connected together at their vertical joint line or faces '6. The opposite sections of the case are provided in their joint faces with slots or recesses, formed respectively right and left hand, to operatively receive the several devices.

At their opposite ends the case sections are provided with transverse grooves or recesses 7, in which are slidingly mounted the guidebars 8 and 9, theformer in open position and the latter closed, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 4;. Cutting the recesses and extending vertically through the connected sections centrally with the joint line thereof, are cylindrical perforations, forming semicircular bearings 10 in each section of the case, and arranged to receive the operating shafts 11, the latter provided at their upper ends with elliptical recesses 12, adapted to receive an actuating key or wrench, notshown. The shafts 11 are also provided at opposite sides with channels 13, shaped to leave a central web or latch member 14-, adapted to enter a recess in the guide-bars 8 and9 and engage the opposite side lugs 15 for the lateral opposite pointsin their movements theyare locked against displacement by the relative position of the parts, wherein any-force tending to accidentally shift the bars is re- 7 sisted by the action of the operating shafts in their dead-center position. In their retracted positions the inner ends of the guidebars engage as stops the walls 17 of the transverse grooves 7 in which'position the opposite or guiding ends of the bars are flush with the outer side faces of the case, allowing the latter to be inserted or removed from the.

bed-slot at any point in the length thereof. Guide-ways 18 are formed in the side walls of these slots and are adapted to slidingly receive the projected ends of the guide-bars for the support of the holder.

Extending longitudinally along the bottom wall of they slots formed in the bed, is

a line of equallyspaced indents 19, tapered .ripheryof the pin-wheel 20, the latter being provided at its opposite sides with the hubs 21, arranged to serve as journal ends, rotatively mounted in recesses 21 formedin the joint faces of the case sections, and disposed therein to position the teeth of the wheel below the lower face of said case.

Engaging the pins or teeth of the pinwheel 20, is aworm 22, the periphery of which rotatively engages as a bearing the wall of the vertically extending recess 23,

formed in the case sections and centrally disposed on the joint line 6 thereof. For efiecting the rotation of the worm, an elliptical perforation 24 is centrally formed through the axis thereof and adapted to be engaged by a correspondingly shaped key or wrench, not shown. At its lower end the worm is positioned by thewalls 25 of the opposite sections, and at its upperend by the lower; face of the clamp member, the latter being provided at its lower end with a T- V shaped shank, comprising a neck 27 and the bottom flanges 28 laterally extending therefrom. -At its upper end, the clamp member is provided with a clamping jaw 29, projecting above the case and constructed right and left hand, as shown in Fig. 1. A circular perforation 30 extends vertically through the clamp member in line with the elliptical perforation in the worm, the greater diameter of the latter being somewhat less than thecircular diameterof the perforation in sections. The shank is disposed in the case centrally with respect to joint line 6, and securely fixed therein by the connection rivets 3 3 and 34 whichhold the sections to-s gether, the latter rivet 3l-passing freely through the pin-wheel 20 and serving only to join the sections. It is to be understood that in lieu of the rivets, screws may be used for more quicklyconnecting the sections for detaching. and replacing the several operating devices. V

In construction the case sections are preferably die cast in well-knownmanner, the several opposite slots and recesses'in the joint faces being formed true with respect to each other, and requiring no machining or finishing for receiving the movable parts adapted thereto. 7 c 7 It will be apparent that the holder thus formed will insure for its parts durability.- of action and maintenance of accuracy of adjustment as well as ready means for the assemblage and replacement thereof.

Theholders in use are applied to the printing plates in well-known mamler, the close spacing of the latteribeing limited only to the width of the projecting jaw ,29 of the clamp member, and by reason of a compara tively short length the holder may be equally well used upon either a flat or a cylindrical bed.

Claims: 1 j

1. The combination in a printing-plate holder, of a guide-bar transversely slidable therein, a latch recess in said guide-bar having opposite side lugs adapted to be engaged for the projection and retraction thereof, an operating shaft pivotallymounted in the holder and extending across the path of said guide-bar, and a latch membersformed on said shaft and disposed to enter the recess of said guide-bar and engage the opposite side lugs thereof and at its opposite extremes of movement to present a "bearing face for said lugs extending transversely of the path of said guide-bar. 2. The combination in a printing-plate holder, of guide-bars transversely slidable therein, latch recesses in said guide-bars having opposite side, lugs adapted to be engaged for the projection and retraction thereof, an operating shaft pivotally mounted in the holder and extending across the path of said guide-bars, and latch members formed onsaid shaft and disposed to enter the recesses ofsaid guide-bars and engage the opposite side lugs thereof and at-their opposite extremes of movement to present bearing faces for said lugs extending transversely of the path of said guide-bars.

3. The combination in a printing-plate holder, of a guide-bar transversely slidable therein, a latch recess in said guide-bar having opposite side lugs adapted to be engaged for the projection and retraction thereof, an operating shaft pivotally mounted in the holder and extending across the path of said guide-bar, channels formed in the opposite sides of said shaft and arranged to engage the opposite sides of said guide-bars, and a latch member formed on said shaft between said channels and disposed to enter the recess of said guide-bar and engage the oppositetside lugs thereof and in its opposite extremes of movement to present a bearing face for said lugs extending transversely of the path of said guidebar.

4. The combination in a printing-plate holder, of guide-bars transversely slidable therein, latch recesses in said guide-bars having opposite side lugs adapted to be engaged for the projection and retraction thereof, an operating shaft pivotally mounted in the holder and extending across the path of said guide-bars, channels formed in the opposite sides of said shaft and arranged to engage the opposite sides of said guide-bars, and latch members formed on said shaft between said channels and disposed to enter the recesses of said guidebars and engage the opposite side lugs thereof and at their opposite extremes of movement to present bearing faces for said lugs extending transversely of the path of said guide-bars.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York, this 23d day of July, A. D. 1918. V

FREDERICK M. TURCK. 

